One of the dishes I made for the choir retreat this weekend was a lentil pie with potato topping. It is similar to a cottage or shepherds pie that are popular in England - but is vegan. I hadn't made it before, but was really pleased with how it came out. So I thought I'd share the recipe.

The recipe makes enough for 10 people and it can all be prepared the day ahead. Then you just need to heat it in the oven for 30 minutes, and its ready to serve. Or you can make it in advance and freeze it. The perfect dish for entertaining when you want to not be in the kitchen on the day!

Clean the potatoes and bake them in the oven until soft (approx 45 - 60 minutes).

While the potatoes are baking, dry fry the onions, carrots, celery together in a large pan, until soft and golden. No oil is necessary. If the vegetables start sticking to the pan, add a little water - 1 tablespoon at a time. Use a lid to keep the moisture in.

Add the mushrooms and cook with the lid on for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the herbs and add either drained and rinsed canned lentils or the dried lentils. Pour over the wine and stock. If using canned lentils, cook for 10 minutes. If using dried lentils, cook for longer, according to package instructions (normally about 30 minutes).

When the lentils are cooked, remove from the heat and stir in the tomato puree, and season to taste.

When the potatoes are cooked, remove and let cool for a while, until you can handle them. Scrape out the potato flesh from its skin, keeping the skin for the topping. Mash the potato flesh well, adding non dairy milk until it is the consistency you like for mash.

Chop up the skins of the potato with the leaves from fresh thyme.

The front two smaller versions didn't have potato skins on top

To assemble the pie, put the lentil mixture in a dish. If there is a lot of liquid, don't add it all. You can always have some as a sauce/gravy to serve. (The amount of liquid will depend on whether you use cooked or dried lentils and how much they absorbed. There should be some liquid but not excessive liquid.) Top with the mashed potato. Sprinkle the chopped potato skins over the mash.

The dish can be frozen at this time (when cooled). Defrost before baking. To serve, heat the oven to 190C or 375F and bake for 30 minutes. The potato skins will crispen up as it bakes.

The idea of using the potato skins on top of the mash came from an old recipe I used to make from my aga cookbook. It was called Barries mash. It's a lovely way to add crunch to mash - and in this recipe, is a great alternative to the usual grated cheese put on top to crispen things up. Instead, the skins get crispy and it add a lovely texture. I'd never done it with sweet potatoes before, but it works well.